Bolashak wins lawsuits against students

One third of Bolashak scholarship holders who were charged for academic failure are planning to appeal against the decision, Tengrinews reports citing Gani Nygymetov, President of the Center of International Programs at the Ministry of Education and Science.

In the period between 1993 to 2013, 10,345 Kazakhstanies received the Bolashak Scholarship to study in over 200 best universities in 33 countries.

"During 20 years of existence of this government-sponsored education scholarship some of the holders lost their scholarships because of their poor academic progress," the center said.

In case of failure to comply with the required level of academic progress a Bolashak scholarship holder has to repay the scholarship in 15 years through monthly installments if the total amount exceeds $55 thousand.

In 2013, the Center of International Programs started suing debtors who were deprived of their scholarship because of poor academic progress and had not returned their debt to the state.

“Last year, we had 40 cases in court and this year we have around the same amount. These 40 cases total at over $1.6 million. The ex-students are repaying their debts via monthly installments. We have won all the lawsuits because the students had either not studied hard enough or failed to get the degree stated in the agreement,” Nygymetov said.

According to Nygymentov, one-third of the students ordered by the court to repay their debts appeal against the court decision.